Your Number’s Up

Sally felt the butterflies building in her tummy. Her mouth dried and the tip of her tongue stuck to her bottom teeth. She was under pressure to make the right response which would get her the cashier’s job at the supermarket.

Sally had been scarred by the sins of her father. At school she suffered innuendo and disapproval. Her classmates talked about her behind open palms, but their whispers could be heard across three fields.

Her father was a thief. Plain and simple. Locked up for it too. Nothing to do with his daughter, of course. Nothing at all. But children, and adults, can be vicious.

Could Sally be trusted? You know – the daughter of a thief.

Did she receive stolen money? She never seemed short of cash.

Is she sneaky? You know – sly.

For years Sally hurt inside. Her whole body ached for forgiveness. Forgiveness for something she had never been guilty of.

Then one day, out of the blue, she was invited to visit her father in the prison hospital. He had suffered a slight heart attack and clearly felt the need to bond with his only child.

“A bit late for bonding,” Sally thought, but she decided to go along to, perhaps, get some answers to her many questions. She also wanted to rant and let him know how it had been for her during his missing years. She wanted to tell him ‘IT WASN’T FAIR.’

As it turned out, the visit was productive. Sally learned that her father usually worked alone but he had had assistance, on his last job, from one of the employees of the company he stole from. He had given Sally’s father the four digit code to open the safe, 1 2 0 7, on the understanding he would receive a large slice of the takings. It would have been a neat, inside job except he didn’t get anything from the escapade. Sally’s father had double-crossed him! Once the safe was open he had disappeared with all the cash and only got arrested when caught speeding in his brand new, all paid for, Porsche. His fingerprints matched those found on the safe.

Although the employee had not benefited from the crime, if the authorities ever found out he was an accomplice he would be thrown into prison too. But Sally’s father believed in a thief’s honour and he had never named, nor even mentioned, the employee’s help on his last job. He didn’t feel he could after double crossing him and all.

When her father had finished explaining all this, Sally shrugged. “What’s any of that got to do with me?” She then told him how, because of him, she has a troubled life and she has been unsuccessful in getting a job. Any job. Being the daughter of a thief has dogged her life. In her mind everyone is always thinking,

“Can she be trusted?”

Nobody would ever give her a chance.

Sally was insecure and hurt. Scarred for life. Desperate to improve her lot. Desperate to improve her life chances. But what could she do? It was all her father’s fault.

When she had finished lamenting, Sally’s father smiled, “I think I can help you there, Sal.”

Now that he had something to put his mind to his heart seemed stronger, and he started to feel a little better. He loved devising plots and outwitting others, especially the Police. He had done it successfully so often over his lifetime of crime, except for the last job of course. Sally listened to her father’s idea and a wry smile appeared. She started to feel a little better too.

Sally’s thoughts returned to the present. The butterflies in her tummy began to disappear and her mouth moistened.

“Well Miss Tomlinson. Why do you think I should offer you this job?”

Sally slid her business card across the desk. It had 4 numbers underneath her name, 1 2 0 7.